It's a good time of year to climb in Poudre Canyon. It has been busy up there, but Horan's guide hasn't had any obvious impact yet. Everyone we've seen the past two weekends are boulderers who've been climbing up there for years. Ian Dory was up there last weekend, and he's was coming very close to doing "Circadian Rhythm." It amazes me how in just a few years "Circadian Rhythm" went from being one of the hardest problems in the world, to something locals are climbing. Ft. Collins climbers just keep getting stronger.
Brandon and Amanda wrapping up the day.
Yesterday, I got on Divergence for the first time in six years. The opening crimps felt much better to me than last time, and I was able to pull up high enough to grab the high sidepull, but I kept popping right off. I have no idea how people stay on the thing. I'll probably wait another six years before I get back on it.
Just left of Divergence, some chalked holds grabbed Ashley's attention. I had written the line off due to it's lowball nature. Ashley jumped right on. She's not as frightened of lowballs as I am.
Ashley sent it, and added a crazy low lie down start to the problem which made it even more frighteningly lowball, but she convinced me to get on it by betting me a dollar I couldn't do the first move. After many attempts, I got the first move, but we moved on before I sent the problem. It's better and more difficult than it looks for short climbers, but probably not very interesting if you're over 5'6".
After falling off a variety of problems, we decided to wrap up the session by repeating "Perch." It's a technical sit-start problem, but it eases up substantially once you have the beta worked out. It has easy on the skin holds, and fun movement.
Here are photos of Ashley on the top half.
After climbing "Perch," Ashley and I started talking about moving somewhere new. Though we aren't seriously considering it, we talk about it sometimes. The best experience in bouldering is topping out a classic problem, that's really hard for you, that you haven't done before. The longer you live in an area, the harder it gets to have this experience. You climb all the nearby classics that suit you, and to keep getting up good new problems the price keeps increasing. You have to drive farther, hike longer, risk more, and keep getting stronger, which gets more and more difficult. We sometimes fantasize about living somewhere new, with hundreds of classic problems that we've never tried before.
Before packing up, I saw some chalked holds I hadn't noticed before on the back of the Scuba Steve boulder. A dyno off two holds to a sloper and top out. I really wanted to do something new so I started working on it. It took me a few goes, but I started getting the height I needed off my jump to slap the sloper. I almost caught it a couple times, and suddenly I felt psyched again. The problem is short, far from inspiring, and probably not very interesting for people taller than me, but it got me excited. All you really need, is a problem with one good move you're not sure you can do, but still feels possible, and you have good bouldering. New classics will keep getting harder to find, but there are still plenty of moves around Ft. Collins that will push us, even after many years of bouldering almost every weekend. And, if we ever do run out, there's always trad climbing.
4 comments:
remember dave: the ft. fun locals are getting STRONGER, the problems are not getting easier!
for divergence, i had to jack my *left* foot way high to a small edge very close, but under my starting hands, the right foot essentially posts against the right side of the wall to help oppose the barn-door... this is the shorter-guy beta for sure. willis lemaire said this beta makes the line three grades easier for him... still hard hard 8 for me this way, but it's way better than the smear and stab beta you are depicted trying.
CRUSHIT!
on re-viewing the shots, looks like your right foot is jacked pretty high, which is NOT the sear and stab beta that most use [the smear is at the junction of a vertical and horizontal stripe in the rock]... so, try the left foot jacked like i mentioned, though some do like the high right that you are using.
whatever... just get MEAN
Seconding Sockhands, there are many strong FC locals. Regarding moving, come to Boulder--lots to do here.
Thanks for the beta Sock hands. Maybe I won't wait six years to get back on it. I had just watched "Solutions" and was trying to do it just like Goodman.
Thanks for the suggestion Peter. Our current plan is to stay in Ft. Collins, but we will probably start visiting Eldo, Flagstaff, Boulder Canyon, and the Flatirons more often. We have tons of things to do down there, and actually plenty of things around here. We just need to start crossing the river.
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